The Vision 2030 is Zambia's long-term plan, expressing the country’s aspirations by the year 2030. It articulates possible long-term alternative development policy scenarios to contribute to the attainment of the outlined social economic indicators by the year 2030, operationalized through the five-year development plans. The Country’s vision is to become “A Prosperous Middle-Income Nation by 2030” with the aspiration to live in a strong and dynamic middle-income industrial nation that provides opportunities for improving the well-being of all, embodying values of socio-economic justice, underpinned by the principles of:

• Gender responsive sustainable development.
• Democracy.
• Respect for human rights.
• Good traditional and family values.
• Positive attitude towards work.
• Peaceful coexistence.
• Private-public partnerships.

(Republic of Zambia: Vision 2030, a Prosperous Middle-Income Nation by 2030, December 2006)

Zambia's total population stood at 19,693,423 as at September 2022, with more females (10,036,163) than males (9,657,260). The rural population (10.9 million) outnumbered the urban population (8.8 million). The country recorded an average annual population growth rate of 3.5% between 2010 and 2022, up from 2.8% in the previous decade. Rural areas saw a growth rate increase of 0.6 percentage points, while urban areas saw a 0.3-point rise. Zambia, covering 752,612 square kilometres, had a population density of 26.2 persons per square kilometre in 2022, an increase of 8.8 from 2010. Lusaka was the most densely populated province (141.3 persons/km²), followed by Copperbelt (88.4 persons/km²), while Northwestern Province was the least densely populated (10.2 persons/km²).

Zambia’s Vision 2030 targets an annual real economic growth rate of 6–10%, but between 2006 and 2021, the country averaged only 5.2%. Growth was strong from 2006–2010 (8.7%), driven by construction, transport, and mining. It then slowed to 4.9% (2011–2016), led by ICT, trade, and construction.

From 2017–2021, growth dropped further to 1.4%, affected by adverse weather, fiscal issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a 2.8% contraction in 2020. Although there was a rebound to 3.6% in 2021, this remained below target, emphasizing the need for improved economic performance moving forward.

Rural areas remain significantly more affected, with poverty at 76.6% and extreme poverty at 60.8% in 2015, compared to 23.4% in urban areas. The persistent rural poverty is largely due to poor nutrition, limited access to agricultural inputs, low wages, and lack of capital for business. (Source: Republic of Zambia. 8th National Development Plan)

In pursuit of the economic transformation agenda, it is imperative that development pathways are sustainable. This entails the sustainable utilization of natural resources which are the basis for wealth creation, as well as building resilience to the adverse effects of climate change. Thus, measures aimed at promoting green growth, safeguarding the environment and natural resources, enhancing climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as strengthening disaster risk reduction, have been prioritized.

Zambia’s economic transformation and growth agenda is anchored on agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism. These sectors also account for a significant proportion of employed persons.

The agriculture sector provides livelihood to more than 70 percent of Zambia’s population. In terms of performance, in the ten-year period between 2011 and 2020, agricultural growth averaged 0.4 percent while its share of GDP was 5.8 percent. The sector growth was lower than the annual national population growth rate of 2.8 percent, despite it being the mainstay of a large proportion of the population. Implicitly, the incomes of households that are dependent on this sector have been declining. Further, the sector has been characterized by low productivity, limited mechanization and is largely rainfall dependent.

 To increase production and productivity in the agriculture sector, the Government will implement the following strategic programmes:

• Infrastructure development
• Agricultural mechanization
• Farmer input support
• Agroforestry and tree crops development
• Agribusiness development
• Irrigation development
• Fisheries and aquaculture development
• Research and development
• Livestock development
• Extension services support
• Early warning and surveillance systems
• Farm block and resettlement schemes development